Over the past year there has been a small yet vocal group requesting a utility to convert Visual Basic 6 code to REALbasic. The need for converting existing code is an opportunity shared across many language developers. Such a need was recognized and acted upon by REALSoftware several years ago. They provide a free utility just to meet the need of VB programmers to convert their code, and as result their future development to RB. Those future revenues are the motive behind RS building such a tool.

REALSoftware considers the topic of Visual Basic to REALbasic Conversion so important that they devote a section of their support bulletin board to it. This section sees questions, complaints and an occasional direct assist from and for those persons trying out RB from VB. After reviewing several of the posts on this low traffic board I noticed that one poster was taking up the opportunity to develop an improved converter, so I’ve followed the progress. I even applied for a beta version. And though I downloaded the program, after encountering an issue with the “licensing” scheme I dropped the exploration. Not because the product wouldn’t be of interest, but because the company AYB seemed overly concerned about theft. Years ago I learned to be careful when visiting places and people seemingly more concerned about thieves and thugs than customers. They must live in a neighborhood too dangerous for me. So, step away quietly.

Apparently AYB Convert! has shipped. In its first week of release the long pent up demand has produced, well not so much produced as squeezed out a trickle joining the alternate Convert… The Convert board lists nine members. So far the need seems limited. Less than ten persons have signed onto the private bulletin board to get their free addons. This seems to be a very small market after all.

I made an estimate that the support market for REALbasic was on the order of 500 licenses for any single tool. Those RB licensees at the large corporations should be committed buyers of low cost utilities. The cost of a tool of several hours of pay should be easy to get thru budgeting at any profitable company. Often the under $100 utility is a reimbursement expense appearing on the employee’s time sheet. So, if there are several hundred large corporations using RB, then an announcement should bring several hundred orders. If the orders for a $50 product don’t flow easily, I doubt that my prior opinion of “500 for any” holds up. Instead, I’d suggest to the developers of REALbasic utilities and tools, they have to count on very limited sales.

The market is small and shrinking. The REALbasic user is trapped. The TRAP:
it does what you want, but it doesn’t do it well. And the market isn’t big enough to support, well, support.